ntm

name	ntm
description	Named Tmux Manager - Multi-agent orchestration for Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini in tiled tmux panes. Visual dashboards, command palette, context rotation, robot mode API, work assignment, safety system. Go CLI.

NTM — Named Tmux Manager

A Go CLI that transforms tmux into a multi-agent command center for orchestrating Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini agents in parallel. Spawn, manage, and coordinate AI agents across tiled panes with stunning TUI, automated context rotation, and deep integrations with the Agent Flywheel ecosystem.

Why This Exists

Managing multiple AI coding agents is painful:

• Window chaos: Each agent needs its own terminal
• Context switching: Jumping between windows breaks flow
• No orchestration: Same prompt to multiple agents requires manual copy-paste
• Session fragility: Disconnecting from SSH loses all agent sessions
• No visibility: Hard to see agent status at a glance

NTM solves all of this with one session containing many agents, persistent across SSH disconnections.

Quick Start

# Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/ntm/main/install.sh | bash

# Add shell integration
echo 'eval "$(ntm init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc

# Interactive tutorial
ntm tutorial

# Check dependencies
ntm deps -v

# Create multi-agent session
ntm spawn myproject --cc=2 --cod=1 --gmi=1

# Send prompt to all Claude agents
ntm send myproject --cc "Explore this codebase and summarize its architecture."

# Open command palette (or press F6 after `ntm bind`)
ntm palette myproject

Session Creation

Spawn Agents

ntm spawn myproject --cc=3 --cod=2 --gmi=1   # 3 Claude + 2 Codex + 1 Gemini
ntm quick myproject --template=go             # Full project scaffold + agents
ntm create myproject --panes=10               # Empty panes only
ntm spawn myproject --profiles=architect,implementer,tester

Agent Flags

Flag	Agent	CLI Command
--cc=N	Claude Code	claude
--cod=N	Codex CLI	codex
--gmi=N	Gemini CLI	gemini

Add More Agents

ntm add myproject --cc=2              # Add 2 more Claude agents
ntm add myproject --cod=1 --gmi=1     # Add mixed agents

Sending Prompts

ntm send myproject --cc "Implement user auth"     # To all Claude
ntm send myproject --cod "Write unit tests"       # To all Codex
ntm send myproject --gmi "Review and document"    # To all Gemini
ntm send myproject --all "Review current state"   # To ALL agents
ntm interrupt myproject                           # Ctrl+C to all

Session Navigation

Command	Alias	Description
ntm list	lnt	List all tmux sessions
ntm attach	rnt	Attach to session
ntm status	snt	Show pane details with agent counts
ntm view	vnt	Unzoom, tile layout, attach
ntm zoom	znt	Zoom to specific pane
ntm dashboard	dash, d	Interactive visual dashboard
ntm kill	knt	Kill session (-f to force)

Command Palette

Fuzzy-searchable TUI with pre-configured prompts:

ntm palette myproject    # Open palette
ntm bind                 # Set up F6 keybinding
ntm bind --key=F5        # Use different key

Palette Features

• Animated gradient banner with Catppuccin themes
• Fuzzy search with live filtering
• Pin/favorite commands (Ctrl+P / Ctrl+F)
• Live preview pane with metadata
• Quick select with numbers 1-9
• Visual target selector (All/Claude/Codex/Gemini)

Palette Navigation

Key	Action
↑/↓ or j/k	Navigate
1-9	Quick select
Enter	Select command
Esc	Back / Quit
?	Help overlay
Ctrl+P	Pin/unpin
Ctrl+F	Favorite

Interactive Dashboard

ntm dashboard myproject   # Or: ntm dash myproject

Dashboard Features

• Visual pane grid with color-coded agent cards
• Live agent counts (Claude/Codex/Gemini/User)
• Token velocity badges (tokens-per-minute)
• Context usage indicators (green/yellow/orange/red)
• Real-time refresh with r

Dashboard Navigation

Key	Action
↑/↓ or j/k	Navigate panes
1-9	Quick select
z or Enter	Zoom to pane
r	Refresh
c	View context
m	Open Agent Mail
q	Quit

Output Capture

ntm copy myproject:1              # Copy specific pane
ntm copy myproject --all          # Copy all panes
ntm copy myproject --cc           # Copy Claude panes only
ntm copy myproject --pattern 'ERROR'  # Filter by regex
ntm copy myproject --code         # Extract code blocks only
ntm copy myproject --output out.txt   # Save to file
ntm save myproject -o ~/logs      # Save all outputs

Monitoring & Analysis

ntm activity myproject --watch    # Real-time activity
ntm health myproject              # Health status
ntm watch myproject --cc          # Stream output
ntm extract myproject --lang=go   # Extract code blocks
ntm diff myproject cc_1 cod_1     # Compare panes
ntm grep 'error' myproject -C 3   # Search with context
ntm analytics --days 7            # Session statistics
ntm locks myproject --all-agents  # File reservations

Activity States

State	Icon	Description
WAITING	●	Idle, ready for work
GENERATING	▶	Producing output
THINKING	◐	Processing (no output yet)
ERROR	✗	Encountered error
STALLED	◯	Stopped unexpectedly

Checkpoints

ntm checkpoint save myproject -m "Before refactor"
ntm checkpoint list myproject
ntm checkpoint show myproject 20251210-143052
ntm checkpoint delete myproject 20251210-143052 -f

Context Window Rotation

NTM monitors context usage and auto-rotates agents before exhausting context.

How It Works

1. Monitoring: Token usage estimated per agent
2. Warning: Alert at 80% usage
3. Compaction: Try /compact or summarization first
4. Rotation: Fresh agent with handoff summary if needed

Context Indicators

Color	Usage	Status
Green	< 40%	Plenty of room
Yellow	40-60%	Comfortable
Orange	60-80%	Approaching threshold
Red	> 80%	Needs attention

Automatic Compaction Recovery

When context is compacted, NTM sends a recovery prompt:

[context_rotation.recovery]
enabled = true
prompt = "Reread AGENTS.md so it's still fresh in your mind. Use ultrathink."
include_bead_context = true   # Include project state from bv

Robot Mode (AI Automation)

Machine-readable JSON output for AI agents and automation.

State Inspection

ntm --robot-status              # Sessions, panes, agent states
ntm --robot-context=SESSION     # Context window usage
ntm --robot-snapshot            # Unified state: sessions + beads + mail
ntm --robot-tail=SESSION        # Recent pane output
ntm --robot-inspect-pane=SESS   # Detailed pane inspection
ntm --robot-files=SESSION       # File changes with attribution
ntm --robot-metrics=SESSION     # Session metrics
ntm --robot-plan                # bv execution plan
ntm --robot-dashboard           # Dashboard summary
ntm --robot-health              # Project health

Agent Control

ntm --robot-send=SESSION --msg="Fix auth" --type=claude
ntm --robot-spawn=SESSION --spawn-cc=2 --spawn-wait
ntm --robot-interrupt=SESSION
ntm --robot-assign=SESSION --assign-beads=bd-1,bd-2
ntm --robot-replay=SESSION --replay-id=ID

Bead Management

ntm --robot-bead-claim=BEAD_ID --bead-assignee=agent
ntm --robot-bead-create --bead-title="Fix bug" --bead-type=bug
ntm --robot-bead-show=BEAD_ID
ntm --robot-bead-close=BEAD_ID --bead-close-reason="Fixed"

CASS Integration

ntm --robot-cass-search="auth error" --cass-since=7d
ntm --robot-cass-context="how to implement auth"
ntm --robot-cass-status

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Error
2	Unavailable/Not implemented

Work Distribution

Integration with BV for intelligent work assignment:

ntm work triage               # Full triage with recommendations
ntm work triage --by-label    # Group by domain
ntm work triage --quick       # Quick wins only
ntm work alerts               # Stale issues, priority drift, cycles
ntm work search "JWT auth"    # Semantic search
ntm work impact src/api/*.go  # Impact analysis
ntm work next                 # Single best next action

Intelligent Assignment

ntm --robot-assign=myproject --assign-strategy=balanced  # Default
ntm --robot-assign=myproject --assign-strategy=speed     # Maximize throughput
ntm --robot-assign=myproject --assign-strategy=quality   # Best agent-task match
ntm --robot-assign=myproject --assign-strategy=dependency # Unblock downstream

Agent Capability Matrix

Agent	Best At
Claude	Analysis, refactoring, documentation, architecture
Codex	Feature implementation, bug fixes, quick tasks
Gemini	Documentation, analysis, features

Profiles & Personas

ntm profiles list                    # List profiles
ntm profiles show architect          # Show details
ntm spawn myproject --profiles=architect,implementer,tester
ntm spawn myproject --profile-set=backend-team

Built-in Profiles

architect, implementer, reviewer, tester, documenter

Agent Mail Integration

ntm mail send myproject --to GreenCastle "Review API changes"
ntm mail send myproject --all "Checkpoint: sync status"
ntm mail inbox myproject
ntm mail read myproject --agent BlueLake
ntm mail ack myproject 42

Pre-commit Guard

ntm hooks guard install    # Prevent conflicting commits
ntm hooks guard uninstall

Notifications

Multi-channel notifications for events:

[notifications]
enabled = true
events = ["agent.error", "agent.crashed", "agent.rate_limit"]

[notifications.desktop]
enabled = true

[notifications.webhook]
enabled = true
url = "https://hooks.slack.com/..."

Event Types

agent.error, agent.crashed, agent.rate_limit, rotation.needed, session.created, session.killed, health.degraded

Alerting System

Alert Types

Type	Severity	Description
unhealthy	High	Agent enters unhealthy state
degraded	Medium	Agent performance degrades
rate_limited	Medium	API rate limit detected
restart_failed	High	Restart attempt failed
max_restarts	Critical	Restart limit exceeded

ntm --robot-alerts
ntm --robot-dismiss-alert=ALERT_ID

Command Hooks

# ~/.config/ntm/hooks.toml

[[command_hooks]]
event = "post-spawn"
command = "notify-send 'NTM' 'Agents spawned'"

[[command_hooks]]
event = "pre-send"
command = "echo \"$(date): $NTM_MESSAGE\" >> ~/.ntm-send.log"

Available Events

pre-spawn, post-spawn, pre-send, post-send, pre-add, post-add, pre-shutdown, post-shutdown

Safety System

Blocks dangerous commands from AI agents:

ntm safety status              # Protection status
ntm safety check "git reset --hard"
ntm safety install             # Install git wrapper + Claude hook
ntm safety uninstall

Protected Commands

Pattern	Risk	Action
git reset --hard	Loses uncommitted changes	Block
git push --force	Overwrites remote history	Block
rm -rf /	Catastrophic deletion	Block
DROP TABLE	Database destruction	Block

Multi-Agent Strategies

Divide and Conquer

ntm send myproject --cc "design the database schema"
ntm send myproject --cod "implement the models"
ntm send myproject --gmi "write tests"

Competitive Comparison

ntm send myproject --all "implement a rate limiter"
ntm view myproject  # Compare side-by-side

Review Pipeline

ntm send myproject --cc "implement feature X"
ntm send myproject --cod "review Claude's code"
ntm send myproject --gmi "write tests for edge cases"

Configuration

ntm config init          # Create ~/.config/ntm/config.toml
ntm config show          # Show current config
ntm config project init  # Create .ntm/config.toml in project

Example Config

projects_base = "~/Developer"

[agents]
claude = 'claude --dangerously-skip-permissions'
codex = "codex --dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox"
gemini = "gemini --yolo"

[tmux]
default_panes = 10
palette_key = "F6"

[context_rotation]
enabled = true
warning_threshold = 0.80
rotate_threshold = 0.95

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
NTM_PROJECTS_BASE	Base directory for projects
NTM_THEME	Color theme: auto, mocha, latte, nord, plain
NTM_ICONS	Icon set: nerd, unicode, ascii
NTM_REDUCE_MOTION	Disable animations
NTM_PROFILE	Enable performance profiling

Themes & Display

Color Themes

Theme	Description
auto	Detect light/dark
mocha	Default dark, warm
latte	Light variant
nord	Arctic-inspired
plain	No color

Agent Colors

Agent	Color
Claude	Mauve (Purple)
Codex	Blue
Gemini	Yellow
User	Green

Display Width Tiers

Width	Behavior
<120 cols	Stacked layout
120-199 cols	List/detail split
200-239 cols	Wider gutters
240+ cols	Full detail

Pane Naming Convention

Pattern: <project>__<agent>_<number>

• myproject__cc_1 - First Claude
• myproject__cod_2 - Second Codex
• myproject__gmi_1 - First Gemini

Status indicators: C = Claude, X = Codex, G = Gemini, U = User

Shell Aliases

After eval "$(ntm init zsh)":

Category	Aliases
Agent Launch	cc, cod, gmi
Session	cnt, sat, qps
Agent Mgmt	ant, bp, int
Navigation	rnt, lnt, snt, vnt, znt
Dashboard	dash, d
Output	cpnt, svnt
Utilities	ncp, knt, cad

Installation

# One-liner (recommended)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/ntm/main/install.sh | bash

# Homebrew
brew install dicklesworthstone/tap/ntm

# Go install
go install github.com/Dicklesworthstone/ntm/cmd/ntm@latest

# Docker
docker pull ghcr.io/dicklesworthstone/ntm:latest

Upgrade

ntm upgrade              # Check and install updates
ntm upgrade --check      # Check only
ntm upgrade --yes        # Auto-confirm

Tmux Essentials

Keys	Action
Ctrl+B, D	Detach
Ctrl+B, [	Scroll/copy mode
Ctrl+B, z	Toggle zoom
Ctrl+B, Arrow	Navigate panes
F6	Open NTM palette (after ntm bind)

Integration with Flywheel

Tool	Integration
Agent Mail	Message routing, file reservations, pre-commit guard
BV	Work distribution, triage, assignment strategies
CASS	Search past sessions via robot mode
CM	Procedural memory for agent handoffs
DCG	Safety system integration
UBS	Auto-scanning on file changes